Avesta - Fragments

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7:00 m Zoroastrian

The Avesta /əˈvɛstə/ is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the otherwise unrecorded Avestan language. All material in the Avesta that is not already present in one of the other categories falls into a "fragments" category, which – as the name suggests – includes incomplete texts. There are altogether more than 20 fragment collections, many of which have no name (and are then named after their owner/collator) or only a Middle Persian name.

Miscellaneous Fragments

I.

(An incitation to the priest or worshipper.) As thou keepest company with the Good Mind, and with Righteousness the Best, and with Khshathra-vairya (the Kingdom to be desired), speak to the male and female disciples of Zarathustra Spitama the saint, (and declare) the praise which is to be spoken, that of the Yasna, even the words against which no anger shall prevail.

2. And do thou, O Zarathustra ! declare our words for sacrifice and worship, ours, the Bountiful Immortals’, that the waters may (thus) be sacrificed to by thee, and the plants, the Fravashis of the saints, and the created Yazads, heavenly and earthly, which are holy and beneficent.

II.

I confess myself a Mazda-worshipper — for the praise of Thraêtaona, the Âthwyan. Let them declare it — Propitiation be to the Fravashi of Thraêtaona, the Âthwyan, the saint. 2. We sacrifice to Thraêtaona, the Âthwyan, the holy lord of the ritual order; and may we be free from the dog Kuro , and the Tarewani , and the Karpan, (we who are) of those who sacrifice in order. 3. (The Ahuna follows.) Sacrifice, homage, strength, and swiftness be to the Fravashi of Thraêtaona, the saint. (The Ahem and Ahmâi raêska follow.)

III.

All good thoughts, and all good words, and all good deeds are thought, and spoken, and done with intelligence and all evil thoughts, and words, and deeds are thought, and spoken, and done with folly. 2. And let (the men who think, and speak, and do) all good thoughts, and words, and deeds inhabit Heaven (as their home). And let those who think, and speak, and do evil thoughts, and words, and deeds abide in Hell. For to all who think good thoughts, speak good words, and do good deeds, Heaven, the best world, belongs. And this is evident, and as of course (?) (or, ‘and therewith their seed’).

IV.

I proclaim the Airyemâ-ishyô as the greatest of all authoritative prayers, O Spitama! as the most influential and helpful for progress; and may the Saoshyants (who would further us) use it and revere it.

I am speaking in accordance with it, O Spitama! and therefore I shall rule as sovereign over creatures which are mine, I who am Ahura Mazda. Let no one rule as Angra Mainyu over realms that are his own, O Zarathustra Spitama! 3. Let Angra Mainyu be hid beneath the earth . Let the Daêvas likewise disappear. Let the dead arise (unhindered by these foes), and let bodily life be sustained in these now lifeless bodies.

V.

To Ahura Mazda, the radiant, the glorious, to the Bountiful Immortals, to Force well-shaped and stately, to the Blow of Victory, Ahura-given, to the Victorious Ascendency (which it secures), to the path of pleasantness, to the good Zarenumant , to the ‘Glowing’ Mountain made by Mazda, and to all the Yazads! 2. We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, the radiant, the glorious, and to the Bountiful Immortals who rule aright, who dispose (of all) aright, and to Force well-shaped and stately, and to the Blow of Victory, and to the Ascendency of Victory, and to the path of pleasantness, and to Zarenumant, the good, which Mazda created, and to the ‘Glowing’ Mount, and to every saint.

VI .

Propitiation be to the created body of the Kine of blessed endowment, and to the Kine’s soul (so, if there is one cow presented ). Propitiation be to the body and soul of you two (so, if there are two ). — To your body and soul (if there are three, or the entire herd ). (The Ahuna follows.)